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A new disruptive force is set to shake up the traditional real estate model by placing all the power of the property transaction in the hands of the consumer.
ReValu8 is promoting itself as a “value and solution”-based organisation for consumers, providing comparative tools to easily analyse, compare and purchase property online.
The platform is free to use and allows buyers and sellers to interact directly or through an agent to negotiate property sales.
ReValue8 also allows for the thousands of dollars spent annually on selling property – through real estate advertising as well as agent and marketer commissions – to be redistributed back to the buyers and their referral channels.
Chris Bilborough, CEO of ReValue8, said the platform aims to correct imbalances within the real estate industry by shifting the power to the hands of the buyers, as well as any adviser who works in the best interests of their clients.
“The accepted practices of advertising and selling real estate in Australia favour the advertiser, agent and then the seller, while the buyer is almost forgotten – despite it being the buyer’s money,” Mr Bilborough said.
“ReValue8 will bring a new level of transparency to the industry to empower purchasers – in particular first home buyers and investors – to be able to make an informed decision on the property that is best suited to their needs.
“Not only will users receive instant access to unbiased, comparative information about property based on real figures, but ReValu8 also gives buyers a fair share of fees that would otherwise go towards advertising costs and agent commissions.”
ReValu8 allows anyone wanting to sell their home to advertise on the site and to do so with no upfront or ongoing charges, paying only on settlement of the property.
Meanwhile, buyers are able to purchase property directly through the website via a transparent transaction between them and the vendor.
The website was built based on comparative analytics to offer a targeted search function to a range of buyers. This enables property investors, first home buyers, owner occupiers and foreign buyers to be categorised individually to a search that best suits their personal circumstance.
Advanced tools are also available to all users, including weekly after-tax cost, potential 10-year profit forecasts, price to valuation discrepancy and a total of eight key financial metrics.
According to Mr Bilborough, this allows buyers to determine whether or not a property is a good investment for them, rather than relying on information provided from sales companies.
“We want to help more people get into their first home sooner, and with less overheads and advertising costs, we are able to direct these incentives back to the buyers and sellers themselves,” he said.
“The sellers set the fees for the sale of the property themselves, with ReValu8 giving back approximately 80 per cent of the commissions and incentives to the buyers, agents and related professional services as well as through [ReValu8’s Social Media Affiliate Reward Program] SMARP for social network referral channels.”
Mr Bilborough noted that, so far, ReValu8 has seen positive feedback from agents.
“It’s not just a positive change for buyers and sellers but real estate agents also, who are now able to sell any property nationwide and earn a fair commission through the website, while still finding the best property for their client – a real revolution for an industry currently stuck on sole agencies,” Mr Bilborough said.
“Essentially, not only will ReValu8 offer buyers, sellers and agents an open market opportunity, but it will also enable agents to do their job better.
“Again, for us, it’s all about bringing the power back to the buyers.”
[Related: Rental portal sees record agent registrations]
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Emma Ryan
Emma Ryan is the deputy head of editorial at Momentum Media.
Emma has worked for Momentum Media since 2015, and has since been responsible for breaking some of the biggest stories in corporate Australia, including across the legal, mortgages, real estate and wealth industries. In addition, Emma has launched several additional sub-brands and events, driven by a passion to deliver quality and timely content to audiences through multiple platforms.
Email Emma on: Emma.Ryan@momentummedia.
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